1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a stamp making apparatus, in particular, a stamp making apparatus capable of being attached one or more holders having various types or shapes of stamp materials thereof and an attachment for holding such holders.
2. Description of Related Art
There have been various stamp making apparatuses capable of making a stamp easily. For example, a stamp making apparatus, which is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-78192, includes a printing portion, which prints an image on a draft sheet, an irradiation unit including a transparent plate and a light source, a pair of rollers, which feed the draft sheet on the transparent plate and a stamp setting unit, which presses the porous resin member against the draft sheet on the transparent plate.
In this case, a holder holding a stamp material at lower end portion thereof is set to a stamp making apparatus so that a positive copy and the stamp material face each other and the stamp material is pressed with an original film existing between the positive copy and the stamp material. When a xenon tube emits light under this condition, the stamp material is lit through the positive copy. Then, only the portion of the stamp material, which is lit through the transparent portion of the positive copy, is melted, and is solidified and sealed by the heat generated by the light absorption material. The sealed portion does not allow ink to pass through. On the other hand, the portion of the stamp material, which is neither melted nor solidified, remains as it is and forms characters, and the like. Therefore, the stamp plate having a stamp surface, which contains sealed (non-printed) and unsealed (printed) portions at the bottom surface of the stamp material, is made.
When stamp printing the image, such as characters, a skirt member of a stamp unit is placed at a desirable position on a printing paper and a grip member is pressed downward. Therefore, the holder moves downward within the skirt member, so that the stamp material is attached to the printing sheet by pressure. Printing, as characters, for example, is performed by adhering ink to the printing paper from the unsealed portion of the stamp surface of the stamp material.
The size (area) of the holder, and by extension, that of the stamp surface in the conventional stamp unit, are substantially the same as that of an image forming area of a draft sheet. Further, they have a substantially rectangular-shape when viewed from above, and their area size and shape (size) are one pattern.
However, though area and shape (size) of the stamp surface had been changed to meet the user""s needs, these needs were not satisfied. For example, if a very small image area is needed for an image to be formed on the draft sheet, the draft sheet is discarded without using most of its area after stamp making. Thus, problems exist such that the draft sheet was wasted and which led to an increase in cost.
The invention provides a stamp making apparatus capable of making various types or shapes of stamps and an attachment used for making such stamps. The invention also provides a stamp making apparatus capable of finely adjusting the mounting position of a stamp material in a stamp making portion and an attachment used for such adjustment.
In this regard, the stamp making apparatus of an embodiment of the invention that applies an energy applying unit that applies an energy to the stamp material, including energy source, and an attachment that is detachably attached to the energy applying unit and that defines at least one positioning portion into which the stamp holder can be detachably inserted. The positioning portion positions the stamp holder for the stamp material to face the energy source. The stamp making apparatus preferably includes an attachment that defines a plurality of positioning portions.
According to the stamp making apparatus or the attachment structured as described above, stamp plates can be made on a plurality of stamp surfaces at the same time because one or more holders that are smaller than a normal size holder, can be inserted into one attachment. Further, when a transparent draft sheet is used for making a stamp, a stamp area of the transparent draft sheet can be used efficiently, and stamp plates can be easily made on a small size or various shaped holders.
In a preferred aspect of the invention, the stamp making apparatus further includes a detecting device that detects a type of the attachment. Preferably in the stamp making apparatus, the attachment includes a distinguishing portion detectable by the detecting device. The stamp making apparatus further preferably includes an energy controller that controls the energy applying unit based on a type of attachment detected by the detecting device.
According to the stamp making apparatus or the attachment structured as described above, it is unnecessary to perform an operation for inputting a type and shape of the holder to the stamp making apparatus every time, and the amount of energy to be applied can be easily adjusted in accordance with the size of the stamp surface.
In a preferred aspect of the invention, the attachment further includes a transparent supporting sheet which is attached to the bottom surface of the attachment.
According to the stamp making apparatus or the attachment structured as described above, as the transparent supporting sheet is attached to the bottom surface of the attachment in a tensioned state, the holder is prevented from accidentally falling from a mounting hole. Further, because the transparent supporting sheet is disposed between the bottom of the holder and the draft sheet, the transparent supporting film acts as a thermally insulating material, so that the transparent supporting film can prevent the transparent draft sheet from adhering to the stamp surface due to melting by heat energy from the light.
In a preferred aspect of the invention, the stamp making apparatus may further include an auxiliary member detachably inserted into the positioning portion of the attachment, and the auxiliary member defines an opening into which the stamp holder is inserted.
According to the stamp making apparatus or the attachment structured as described above, because the auxiliary member can be freely attached to and removed from the opening in the attachment, various types of holders can be inserted into the openings by changing the auxiliary member without increasing the number of attachments if the auxiliary member is made so that various types of small holders can be inserted thereinto. Therefore, the cost for manufacturing attachments can be reduced and the attachments can be stored without being bulky.
According to another aspect of the invention, the attachment may include an adhesive member at a bottom surface thereof, which adheres the transparent draft sheet to the attachment.
According to the stamp making apparatus or the attachment structured as described above, the stamp area of the transparent draft sheet can be easily adjusted so as to be positioned within the opening.
According to another aspect of the invention, the stamp making apparatus may further include a fine adjustment device that adjusts the position of the attachment relative to the energy applying unit in a horizontal direction.
According to the stamp material or the attachment structured as described above, a draft data area (stamp area) can be positioned within the stamp surface area in the holder even though the position of the draft data area (stamp area) is shifted due to an error of a printing position on the transparent draft sheet or the stop position of the transparent draft sheet is shifted after it is transported to the stamp making portion. Therefore, a misalignment can be reliably prevented.
According to another aspect of the invention, the fine adjustment device may include a first moving device that moves the attachment in a first horizontal direction. Preferably in the stamp making apparatus, the fine adjustment device may further include a second moving device that moves the attachment in a second horizontal direction perpendicular to the first horizontal direction.
According to the stamp making apparatus or the attachment structured as described above, the draft on the transparent draft sheet can be aligned with the opening by the first moving device and the second moving device even if the stamp material is tiny and a shift occurs between the stamp material and the draft on the transparent draft sheet. The opening is two-dimensionally moved relative to the transparent draft sheet by the first moving device that moves the opening in the longitudinal direction of the transparent draft sheet, and the second moving device that moves the opening in the lateral direction of the transparent draft sheet. Further, though there are various sizes and shapes of holders having stamp materials thereof, stamp plates can be formed on the stamp materials held by such holders if the attachment having an opening corresponding to such holders is set to a predetermined position in the stamp making apparatus.
In a preferred aspect of the invention, the stamp making apparatus may further include a feeding mechanism that feeds the transparent draft sheet to between the light source and the attachment. The fine adjustment device may include a feeding direction moving device that moves the attachment in a feeding direction of the transparent draft sheet. The stamp making apparatus preferably includes a lateral direction moving device that moves the attachment in a lateral direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the transparent draft sheet.
According to the stamp making apparatus or the attachment structured as described above, the feeding direction moving device is slid in the longitudinal direction of an outer frame (feeding direction of the transparent draft sheet) and the lateral direction moving device is slid in the lateral direction of the feeding direction (in a direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the transparent draft sheet). Therefore, the position of the opening can be two-dimensionally adjusted relative to the transparent draft sheet.
In a preferred aspect of the invention, the fine adjustment device may include an outer frame, a first slide member which is disposed in the outer frame and is capable of sliding in a first horizontal direction, a second slide member which is disposed in the first slide member and is capable of sliding in a second horizontal direction, a first adjustment device that adjusts the position of the first slide member relative to the outer frame, and a second adjustment device that adjusts the position of the second slide member relative to the first slide member. Preferably, the first adjusting device may include a first spring disposed on an end of the first slide member in a sliding direction thereof, a first cam disposed on the other end of the first slide member in the sliding direction thereof, and a first finger grip member connected to the cam. Preferably, the second adjusting device may include a second spring disposed on an end of the second slide member in a sliding direction thereof, a second cam disposed on the other end of the second slide member in the sliding direction thereof, and a second finger grip member connected to the cam.
According to the stamp making apparatus or the attachment structured as described above, the spring, which is disposed at one side of the moving direction of the slide member, urges the slide member, and the cam, which is disposed at other side of the moving direction, makes contact with the slide member, so that the position of the slide member is determined. When the cam is rotated using the finger grip member, the slide member moves in accordance with an eccentricity of a cam surface.
In a preferred aspect of the invention, a peripheral part around the positioning portion of the attachment is made of a transparent material.
According to the stamp making apparatus or the attachment structured as described above, the transparent draft sheet can be seen through the transparent material around the opening. Therefore, visual positioning can be easily made.
According to another aspect of the invention, the peripheral part around the positioning portion of the attachment may have a positioning mark thereon.
According to the stamp making apparatus or the attachment structured as described above, the position of the opening can be finely adjusted so that the positioning marks for positioning the transparent draft sheet seen through the transparent material around the opening are aligned with the positioning mark around the opening.
According to another aspect of the invention, a part of the attachment having the positioning mark thereon is formed into a convex lens.
According to the stamp making apparatus or the attachment structured as described above, positioning marks can be easily aligned because the positioning marks for positioning the draft sheet and the positioning mark around the opening are magnified through the convex lenses.
According to another aspect of the invention, the attachment has a fixing portion for fixing the transparent supporting sheet, the fixing portion is formed to asymmetrical about a center line thereof.
According to the stamp making apparatus or the attachment structured as described above, even though silicone is only applied to a stamp surface side of the transparent sheet, the side, to which is applied silicone, always faces the stamp material because insertion portions are asymmetrically formed.